On Writing

I hate to admit that I'm lazy when it comes to my creative writing, but I am. I've heard countless times that the only way to improve your writing is to keep writing, and when it comes to journalism, I'm on board.

But when it comes to my creative work, I get blocked. Author Steven Barnes told me this summer that if you spend 10,000 hours doing anything, you'll master it. Me and my VONA peers bought into it, but still struggle.

Here's an interview with John Edgar Wideman. Dude's written like a gazillion books and despite the fact that his fiction is generally regarded by some readers as being hella -- sometimes unyieldingly -- dense, he keeps writing. (Try to ignore the "Fanon" mispronunciation; bet she'd know how to pronounce "Faulkner" though!)